RADNOR, Pa.— The “Holy War” has not lost any of its intensity. It just took a half for Villanova and Saint Joseph’s to take the city’s best rivalry to a fever pitch.

Fittingly, the 70th meeting between the Hawks and Wildcats came down to the wire.

James Bell hit a 3-pointer from the left wing, off a feed from freshman Ryan Arcidiacono with 29 seconds to play in the game, but it was huge defensive stand that gave the Wildcats a 64-61 victory in a game that featured 15 lead changes and six ties.

The victory wasn’t secured until Saint Joe’s forward Halil Kanacevic, trying to beat the five second clock threw the ball off Villanova’s Maurice Sutton, only to have the ball bounce off his thigh as he was standing out of bounds with three seconds left in the game.

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Bell was fouled with 2.4 seconds left and hit both free throws to ice the victory over the Wildcats (6-4 overall, 2-2 Big 5).

Bell finished with 12 points. JayVaugh Pinkston also had 12 points to lead Villanova.

It was a game that featured 15 lead changes and six times. Most of those occurred in the second half. There were eight lead changes and six ties in the final 20 minutes. Neither team led by more than five points in the second half.

For once, Villanova was not the sloppiest team on the floor, at least not in the first half. The ‘Cats also were the better shooting team from 3-point range and those two factors enabled Villanova to survive a 13-2 Saint Joe’s run and take a 33-31 lead into the locker room at halftime.

The Wildcats close the half on a 7-0 run, fueled by back-to-back threes by Bell and Arcidiacono. Yacoubou picked up from where he left off against Penn and gave Villanova a lift with eight points off the bench. Pinkston added seven off the pine as the Wildcats reserves outscored the short Saint Joe’s bench, 16-0. Villanova also enjoyed a 9-0 advantage in second-chance points.

As usual, Galloway and Jones left the way. They had a combined 24 points at the break with Galloway the leader at 13. It was all Galloway and Jones until Ronald Roberts dropped in a layup off a feed from Jones with 7:13 to play in the first half.

Cold shooting from beyond the arc and turnovers also made life difficult for the Hawks. After hitting three of their first five shots from beyond the arc, the Hawks made just one of their last 10 to finish 4-for-14 (28.6 percent). SJU also committed 11 turnovers.

Villanova was a little better from deep (6-for-14, 42.9 percent)and had two fewer turnovers after the first 20 minutes.

While it was close, the game lacked energy. That changed in the second half as the Hawks and Wildcats went at it in true “Holy War” fashion.